An Almaty-based firm has been placed on the US Treasury Department's sanctions list for cooperating with an Iranian airline, according to infohub.kz.
The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on 36 entities supporting Iran's aviation sector, including firms that work with Mahan Air. Among them is Kazakhstan's Tour Invest, which acted as a general sales agent for Mahan Air, the announcement said.
"We promised serious consequences for those providing financial lifelines to the Iranian regime. Today we delivered on that promise by sanctioning companies that continue to support Mahan Air. Let this be a warning to anyone doing business with Iran's remaining airlines, all of which we sanctioned today: you risk being cut off from the global financial system," the department warned.
OFAC also clarified the legal status of the Kazakh travel provider, labeling it a "secondary sanctions risk." This means no direct ban has been imposed yet, but the company is in a high-risk zone.
According to uchet.kz, Tour Invest LLP is registered in Almaty, with Ziae Babak Ali as its head. Ak Zhaik reports the company was registered in 2014 as a tour operator and is a small enterprise with fewer than five employees.